Vote or boycott? Rival campaigns hit Chad's streets ahead of polls

Shouting "Boycott!", women in T-shirts emblazoned with the red cross logo of a Chadian opposition coalition urged shoppers in the capital's markets to snub this month's parliamentary and local elections.

"Don't take part in this masquerade!" the campaigners for the Political Actors' Consultation Group (GCAP) called out ahead of the December 29 polls, the first since 2011 in the central African nation.

The campaign is in full swing on the streets of N'Djamena, with supporters of both the opposition and the ruling party making their voices heard.

Florence Loardomdemadje, 46, spokeswoman for the GCAP campaigners, asked her "brothers and sisters" not to support what she called an "electoral coup" so as not to be "cheated by rogue leaders supported by crooked Chadians".

The GCAP platform is made up of 15 anti-government parties and previously called for a boycott of last December's constitutional referendum. By Joris Bolomey (AFP)

The GCAP platform, made up of 15 fiercely anti-government parties, previously called for a boycott of last December's constitutional referendum.

And it snubbed the May presidential election won by General Mahamat Idriss Deby, three years after he took over from his father who had ruled for 31 years until he was killed in a gun battle with rebels in 2021.

"These elections have not been transparent and are illegitimate. The same thing will happen again," Loardomdemadje said, accusing the government of not listening to "the cries of women and youth".

Legislative elections had been due in 2015 but a constitutional law prolonged the parliament and a new vote was delayed several times. By Joris Bolomey (AFP)

GCAP spokesman Max Kemkoye said "to put forward candidates in an election that has been lost in advance, is to endorse a government that seeks to be legitimised".

The Transformers, another opposition party, has also blasted the vote as "theft", overseen by the ANGE electoral agency.

'Transparent elections'

Banners promoting the ruling Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS) hang over main roads in the capital.

Ruling MPS party candidate Abba Djida Mamar, 56, hopes voters will head to the polls in their droves. By Joris Bolomey (AFP)

Lawmaker Abba Djida Mamar, 56, hopes voters will turn out in droves.

Mamar, who was elected to parliament in the last ballot in 2011, said he was "very confident" he would hold onto his seat.

"The elections will be transparent and that is precisely why so much energy is deployed in the campaign," the freight transport business owner said.

"No political party in Chad can take the majority away from the MPS, we have a very strong base and a striking capacity at any given time, technically as well as financially, to campaign," Mamar added.

Among goodies being handed out to prospective voters is colourful fabric displaying the face of the Chadian president. By Joris Bolomey (AFP)

Over the next few days, his team plans to hand out goodies -- caps, scarves, key rings and pins -- in his image, as well as more than 10,000 bright yellow pieces of fabric displaying the face of the Chadian president.

At the weekend, the MPS pulled out all the stops with a large rally, featuring dances and concerts, to spotlight its candidates.

They include N'Djamena mayor Bartchiret Fatime Zara Hanana Douga.

Between the speeches, the event even involved tutorials on stage showing the audience which box to tick on the ballot paper.

More than 2,000 people turned up, with many taken by minibus from various neighbourhoods of N'Djamena including among the poorest.

Dubai-style marina

Mamar, a seasoned politician, has been going door to door to tell residents about his promises to bring in equipment to level streets heavily damaged by downpours, as well as to introduce solar panels and access to drinking water.

The MPS held a large rally to spolight its candidates featuring dance performances. By Joris Bolomey (AFP)

He also hopes to woo voters with a pledge to re-open the city's only cinema and turn a canal into what he calls a Dubai-style "marina".

Opposition supporters of the GCAP slam lacking infrastructure, inexistent roads, power cuts, limited access to drinking water and high living costs in one of the poorest countries in the world.

On voting day, the opposition plans to deploy observers at polling stations and "track live evidence of the turnout", which it will send to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights "to get the vote cancelled", it has vowed.